WARNING: DO NOT READ FURTHER IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA.
(If you haven’t seen it yet, check out our everything you need to know before seeing the movie.)
Ready?
OK.
We already knew that the intimidating Kang the Conqueror would make the villain’s first feature-length appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) during Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. What’s caught some people off guard is the appearance of another famous Marvel villain, M.O.D.O.K.
There were initial reactions to M.O.D.O.K. (short for Mental/Mobile/Mechanized Organism Designed Only for Killing) in a recent trailer for the film, but it was only a short glance. With the latest Ant-Man movie now officially out in the United States, we have a full look at the character, played by Corey Stoll’s Darren Cross — the villain from Ant-Man.
The internet has had some interesting reactions thus far:
Every time I saw MODOK #AntManAndTheWaspQuantumaniapic.twitter.com/D7FCOtzZjc
— BLURAYANGEL 🦇 (@blurayangel) February 17, 2023
Here’s what modok should’ve actually looked like pic.twitter.com/rkZAisoDgH
— Pete The First (@BeyondThePete) February 15, 2023
Let me chime in on this debate over one of Marvel’s more classic villains.
According to Marvel Database, the M.O.D.O.K. of the comics was originally George Tarleton, a technician who worked for the fictional company A.I.M. (Advanced Idea Mechanics). When Tarleton would join the effort to help create the Cosmic Cube (the Tesseract in the MCU), his boss, Lyle Getz (a.k.a. the Scientist Supreme of A.I.M.) gave him superhuman intellect. As a result, Tarleton’s head grew too big, and he had to be placed in a life support machine entitled the “Doomsday Chair” — which is likely the same gold apparatus Stoll’s interpretation sits in during Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
The origin story of the M.O.D.O.K from the MCU is a bit more unclear.
After Scott Lang shrinks Darren Cross down to subatomic size during the first Ant-Man movie, he was presumed dead. That couldn’t be further from the case. The reveal that Cross has been turned into M.O.D.O.K. doesn’t provide much backstory other than that his face has been crudely superimposed onto his new body. Oh, and he’s here to help Kang as a weapon of destruction.
And you know what? That’s OK! I don’t know about you, but as someone who watched Marvel cartoons when I was a kid, M.O.D.O.K. was never aesthetically pleasing.
Just look at this monstrosity:
Only real ones remember these versions of Kang & Modok pic.twitter.com/vZoKB9lBCk
— Josh Bay Area Sports Stan + Multistan (@JoshGninersguy5) February 7, 2023
M.O.D.O.K. is a being expressly created for terrorizing and killing (mainly) superheroes. Nothing more. Ever since his origin was concocted by the late Jack Kirby in 1967, he has looked absurd and over-the-top in most interpretations. He’s essentially a giant head with a permanent frown stuffed into a chair. I mean, come on. It’s great!
Could the MCU have potentially put more detail into its interpretation of the villain? Sure! Do I still appreciate that they simply smushed Stoll’s face into the “Doomsday Chair” instead?
Yes, because it’s still in the spirit of M.O.D.O.K. in all his incredibly ugly glory.
